Book Review: Tank Girl: Armadillo! by Alan C. Martin

I remember an interview with John Cleese of Monty Python fame where he described how they came up with the skits they performed on their old television series. They would, he said, simply take the most illogical premise to its logical conclusion. That was all very well and good, but half the time I don’t think I could even get my head around what the premise was on half the old skits on Monty Python’s Flying Circus, let alone working them out to their logical conclusion.

In fact, the thing I used to like best about that show and a few others of similar ilk was that they didn’t have anything for the logical brain to hold onto. All you could do was sit back, enjoy the ride, and don’t be too bothered about not understanding the whys and what-for of the action. It was a blissful descent into pure and utter chaotic anarchy that seems to be something uniquely English. Maybe it has something to do with living in a society which has been so rigidly class bound for so long that invites such out and out anarchy as a response.

Whatever the reason, the Brits have a long history of being right over the edge when it comes to comedy. Predating Monty Python with The Goonies and Beyond The Fringe, and continuing on with stuff like The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and Red Dwarf. It’s not only television and radio that’s been host to their comic insanity (Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy first saw life as a Radio show) but comics as well. Of these, the reigning queen of over the top is without a doubt Tank Girl
The Tank Girl comic, and the indomitable character herself, first saw the light of day in 1988 thanks to the talents of writer Alan C. Martin and illustrator Jamie Hewlett. Together, the two men created three graphic novels featuring the outrageous adventures of the girl and her tank. She and her friends fight a never ending war against injustice, anybody that pisses them off, and perform feats of daring that usually involve high powered ammunition and lots of things that go boom. Cutting a tank wide swath through the Australian Outback, they eat well, drink lots, and knock over the occasional bank when in need of cash.

While it might appear on the surface that Tank Girl and her friends are random acts of violence simply waiting to happen, there’s far to them than meets the eye. To gain a deeper understanding of the maelstrom that is Tank Girl, you really need to read Tank Girl: Armadillo!, her first completely prose adventure written by Alan C. Martin and published by Titan Books.

Tank Girl: Armadillo! features a novella of the same name, plus some bonus features including a couple of comic scripts awaiting illustrations, poems, and other short writings where our heroine is in full action mode. It’s the novella, though, where most of the action takes place and also where we get a whole bunch more information about Tank Girl herself, and a little bit of insight into the philosophy behind Alan C. Martin’s creation.

In his introduction to Tank Girl: Armadillo!, he talks about how we are continually bombarded with sensual stimulation until we are literally drowning in information overload. To combat this, we raise shells to defend ourselves and learn how to shut off our sensory receptors. Unfortunately, by doing this we also block our flow of creative energy. In this way, Martin says, the modern world refuses us our right to be who we are.

Like armadillos, we’re naked under our armour, and if we didn’t create this armour we would be swamped and overwhelmed. According to Martin, we need to take control of our armour and not let it form as a reaction to the greed and manipulation of advertisers, politicians, and the rest of the information merchants in order to survive. That’s where Tank Girl comes in; her armour is in plain view, and she makes damn sure that nobody is going to sell her snake oil of any shape or form.
So that’s the context for reading Tank Girl: Armadillo, and it’s all very well and good, but I defy anybody to remember that while reading the story. Well, maybe it’s percolating somewhere in the back of your skull, but the truth of the matter is that it’s far too easy to get caught up in the sheer crazy, insanity of the story. I think the secret to enjoying this story is that you make sure your seat belt is securely fastened, your dis-belief checked at the door, and you hang on tight because you’re in for the ride of my life.

You see, the self righteous folk of the town of Chankers, (rhymes with wankers), have been abusing the love of Tank Girls’ life, Booga the kangaroo, since he was just young. Now they have finally crossed the line by kidnapping him, tying him up in the basement of the town church and punishing him for being a sinner. There’s only one thing to do in a case like this; bring down death and destruction with all the armament the tank can bring to bear.

Of course, it’s not just death and destruction; there’s also some random acts of stupidity and other completely nonsensical incidents which don’t bear repeating, but are all good clean fun. Well, not really – more like heavy duty anarchic chaos that’s good for the soul and bad for the establishment. That’s the thing about Tank Girl, she’s got a fine sense of justice and a good notion of right and wrong. Sure, she might overreact just a teensy bit now and then, but sometimes the only way people are going to listen to you is if you drop a small nuclear device on their town.

I think what I appreciated most about Tank Girl: Armadillo! is Alan C. Martin’s writing. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book when it came to how the story was going to be told, but not only can he write some mean chaotic prose, he also give us pauses in the action which are not only poetic, but actual poetry. It might sound corny, but these poetic interludes show us the Tank Girl who would exist if she didn’t have to be concerned about wearing armour to protect herself from the havoc of everyday existence.

Tank Girl: Armadillo! is the natural heir to the British comedy shows of the 1960’s and 1970’s like Monty Python’s Flying Circus in that it also takes an illogical situation to its most logical conclusion. The only difference is that Tank Girl: Armadillo! has far more basis in reality than those other shows did. On the surface this is a hoot and a holler, but underneath it all is a call to arms.

We could all use a little more Tank Girl in our lives and Tank Girl: Armadillo! is just the answer. It goes on sale in mid April at book dealers of class and style everywhere.

About Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of two books commissioned by Ulysses Press, "What Will Happen In Eragon IV?" (2009) and "The Unofficial Heroes Of Olympus Companion". Aside from Blogcritics his work has appeared around the world in publications like the German edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and the multilingual web site Qantara.de. He has been writing for Blogcritics.org since 2005 and has published around 1900 articles at the site.